Companies are encouraged to have in place, robust procurement processes to prevent instances of dishonest dealings like cheating, within the organization. Individuals found to engage in such criminal activity, including money laundering, will be brought firmly to task.

2 On 28 November 2018, two individuals were charged with the following offences:

i. 10 counts of abetment by conspiring with one Louise Lai Pei Hsien (“Louise”), to cheat Nanyang Technological University (“NTU”), TechBiz Xccelerator Pte Ltd (“TBX”) and NTUitive Pte Ltd (“NTUitive”), an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. Louise was alleged to have submitted invoices from I-KnowHow Pte Ltd (“IKH”) to NTU, TBX and NTUitive for works not done by IKH, which dishonestly induced the companies to pay IKH a sum amounting to $117,000 from August 2014 to February 2015. NTUitive is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTU while TBX is a wholly owned subsidiary of NTUitive.

ii. 3 counts of abetment by conspiring with Louise, to cheat NTUitive by submitting invoices from IKH to one Lu Jiawen (“Lu”) for developmental works that were supposedly outsourced by Lu to IKH. As a result, NTUitive was dishonestly induced to disburse a total sum of $44,000 to Lu. These acts constituted an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

iii. 6 counts of abetment by conspiring with Lu, to cheat NTU into believing that Lu was employed on a full time basis with TBX when she was not. As a result, NTU was dishonestly induced into paying Lu salaries amounting to $21,000 for the months of July 2015 to December 2015. These acts constituted an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

iv. 3 counts of abetment by conspiring with one Fung Kwok Pan (“Fung”), to cheat NTU and TBX by submitting invoices from Voidworks Pte Ltd (“Voidworks”) to NTU and TBX for works not done by Voidworks. As a result, these companies were dishonestly induced to pay Voidworks a total of $43,000. These acts constituted an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

v. 2 counts of abetment by conspiring with one Amunumulle Jayasinghe Mudiyanselage Udeepa Gayantha Jayasinghe @ Udeepa to knowingly give false quotations from Voidworks to a Financial Controller at NTUitive, with the intent to deceive and mislead NTUitive, an offence under Section 6(c) read with Section 29(a) of the Prevention of Corruption Act, Chapter 241.

vi. 8 counts of concealing a sum amounting to $192,000 (which in part directly represents Cheng’s benefits from criminal conduct) by falsely informing Louise that the said sum was for consultancy services rendered by one Xu Meng (“Xu”) and then directing Louise to issue IKH cheques for the said sum to Xu. These cheques were then deposited into Xu’s OCBC bank account which Cheng had access to. These constituted an offence under Section 47(1)(a) and punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

vii. 4 counts of concealing a sum amounting to $35,000 (which in part directly represents Cheng’s benefits from criminal conduct) by falsely claiming from Voidworks, payments for jobs that were purportedly carried out by Xu and causing Fung to issue Voidworks cheques for the said sum to Xu when Cheng knew that the jobs were not carried out by Xu. These cheques were subsequently deposited into Xu’s OCBC bank account which Cheng had access to. These constituted an offence under Section 47(1)(a) and punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

viii. 7 counts of concealing a sum amounting to $19,500 (which in whole directly represents Cheng’s benefits from criminal conduct) by falsely informing Lu that Xu had done the work that TBX had assigned to Lu and then instructing Lu to transfer the said sum from Lu’s bank account to Xu’s OCBC bank account (which Cheng had access to). These constituted an offence under Section 47(1)(a) and punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

ix. 77 counts of transferring a sum amounting to $222,300 (which in part directly represents Cheng’s benefits from criminal conduct), from Xu’s OCBC bank account (which Cheng had access to) to his own UOB bank account, an offence under Section 47(1)(b) and punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A.

i. 10 counts of abetment by conspiring with Cheng Choong Hung (“Cheng”), to cheat NTU, TBX and NTUitive Pte Ltd, an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224. She was alleged to have submitted invoices from IKH to NTU, TBX and NTUitive for works not done by IKH, which dishonestly induced the companies to pay IKH a total of $117,000.

ii. 3 counts of abetment by conspiring with Cheng, to cheat NTUitive by submitting invoices from IKH to one Lu Jiawen (“Lu”), for developmental works that were supposedly outsourced by Lu to IKH but which were not carried out. As a result, NTUitive was dishonestly induced to disburse a total sum of $44,000 to Lu. These acts constituted an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

iii. 2 counts of abetment by conspiring with one Wong Chee Leong (“Wong”), to cheat NTU by positioning Wong as the service provider in a service agreement between him and NTU to provide ‘consultancy services for content designs and social media marketing services when it was not so. As a result, NTU was dishonestly induced to pay Wong consultancy fees amounting to $30,000, for the period of January 2016 to June 2016. These acts constituted an offence punishable under Section 420 read with Section 109 of the Penal Code, Chapter 224.

3 After the alleged criminal benefits were received in IKH, Voidworks and Lu’s account, Cheng was found to have caused these funds to be channelled into a bank account held under the name of one Xu Meng, which Cheng had access to. Most of these funds were supposedly transferred into Cheng’s personal bank account. The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau has since seized approximately $281,000 from Cheng.

4 The CPIB takes a serious view against corruption and any criminal activities. Members of the public are also reminded that it is an offence to conceal, attempt to conceal or to knowingly assist another person to conceal any ill-gotten proceeds. Any person who is convicted of an offence punishable under Section 47(6)(a) of the Corruption, Drug Trafficking and Other Serious Crimes (Confiscation of Benefits) Act, Chapter 65A will be liable to a fine not exceeding $500,000 or to imprisonment for a term not exceeding 10 years or to both.

SINGAPORE — A former director of the innovation and enterprise arm of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) was charged in court on Wednesday (Nov 28), accused of conspiring with others to cheat the university and its subsidiary companies of more than S$200,000.

Cheng Choong Hung, 55, faces a total of 120 charges for offences such as cheating, money laundering, and engaging in corrupt transactions.

Court documents revealed that Cheng allegedly engaged in a conspiracy with Louise Lai Pei Hsien on 10 occasions between August 2014 and February 2015 to cheat NTU, its innovation and enterprise arm known as NTUitive, and NTUitive's subsidiary TechBiz Xccelerator of S$117,000.

Lai was also charged in court on Wednesday.

A former director of Lai I-KnowHow Ptd Ltd, Lai is alleged to have submitted invoices from the firm to NTU and its related companies for various jobs, including market research, website and mobile application development.

I-KnowHow did not perform any of the jobs, but was paid S$117,000.

Cheng is also said to have conspired with Lai to submit I-KnowHow invoices to Ms Lu Jiawen, a purported employee of TechBiz Xccelerator, for the outsourced developmental works.

This was done to deceive NTUitive into believing that Ms Lu had outsourced the works to the company, but this was not done. NTUitive paid S$44,000 to Ms Lu.

Cheng allegedly conspired with Ms Lu to cheat NTU into believing she was a TechBiz Xccelerator staff member when she was not. NTU paid her six months’ salary totalling some S$21,000, between July 2015 and December 2015.

It is not known which company Ms Lu was really working for, or if she will be dealt with by the courts.

Separately, Cheng is said to have conspired with Fung Kwok Pam, director of design and technology studio Voidworks, to cheat NTU and TechBiz Xccelerator of S$43,000, by submitting invoices from Voidworks on three occasions between March 2015 and March 2016.

Lai faces another two cheating charges of colluding with a Wong Chee Leong to cheat NTU. In January 2016, she allegedly made Wong sign off as a service provider to provide consultancy services.

No such services were offered, but NTU paid S$30,000.

In total, Cheng and Lai cheated NTU and the two subsidiary companies of S$255,000.

After the payments were received in their respective accounts, Cheng was said to have channelled the money into a bank account under the name of Mr Xu Meng.

Court documents revealed that Cheng had access to Mr Xu’s bank account, and he then transferred the money to his personal account.

The Corrupt Practices Investigation Bureau (CPIB) has since seized about S$280,000 from Cheng.

The CPIB said in a media release that it takes a serious view against corruption and any criminal activities. “Members of the public are also reminded that it is an offence to conceal, attempt to conceal or to knowingly assist another person to conceal any ill-gotten proceeds,” it added.

Responding to TODAY’s queries, an NTU spokesperson said that Cheng, known as "Viktor Cheng", is no longer with the university. He had left in June 2016. The spokesperson added: “NTU reported the matter to the CPIB in August 2016 as soon as it found out about the alleged wrongdoing.”

For each charge of cheating, Cheng and Lai could each be jailed 10 years and fined if convicted. For laundering money gained from cheating, Cheng could also face a jail term of up to 10 years, and/or a fine of up to S$500,000.

No plea was taken from the duo, who will return to court on Jan 3 next year. Cheng and Lai are out on bail of S$50,000 and S$20,000, respectively.

MORE ABOUT THE ACCUSED

Cheng Choong Hung:

A check online showed that Cheng was a former director of information and communication technology at NTU. He also served as deputy chief executive officer of the Intellectual Property Office of Singapore for six years, where he “masterminded the development of Intellectual Property management capabilities in the public and private sector”.

Louise Lai Pei Hsien:

On her LinkedIn profile, Lai is listed as the partner and chief executive officer of InnoReach, a consultancy and advisory firm that specialises in services in commercialisation, innovation and outreach.

Her online profile states that she has been a tech entrepreneur since 2014, having founded two such companies specialising in big data analytics and social media marketing. Lai wrote that she has more than two years of experience in providing “end-to-end services in digital marketing” to start-ups, small- and medium-sized enterprises, and institutions such as “Innovation Centre of Nanyang Technological University”.

She conspired with a former Nanyang Technological University (NTU) director and used her own husband to cheat the university out of $191,000.

For these offences, Louise Lai Pei Hsien, 43, the former director of IT firm I-KnowHow (IKH), was yesterday jailed for 17 months. She pleaded guilty to five counts of cheating, with another 10 cheating charges taken into consideration.

The court heard that Lai and her co-accused Cheng Choong Hung, also known as Viktor, were former colleagues. At the time of the offences, Cheng was the director of NTUitive. He was also a director at the Institute for Media Innovation (IMI) and chief executive of Techbiz Xccelerator (TBX).

All three are wholly owned subsidiaries of NTU.

Lai set up IKH in July 2014 on the advice of Cheng, who had control over the company, sourcing projects and making business decisions for it.

They agreed to tender for projects at IMI, TBX and NTUitive despite Lai knowing there would a conflict of interest. They also agreed Cheng should not be registered as a director, shareholder, or otherwise in connection with IKH.Singapore

Apart from the NTU-related projects Cheng sourced, the company did not have other business dealings, Deputy Public Prosecutor Victoria Ting told District Judge Ong Chin Rhu.

In 2014, on Cheng's instructions, Lai prepared a quotation for an IMI bid even though she knew the work would be done by a freelancer, Ms Lu Jiawen.

Lai submitted two invoices to NTU when the work was completed, dishonestly concealing Cheng's involvement in IKH, the quotation and getting Ms Lu to carry out the work.

In 2015, Lai submitted two invoices, also at Cheng's instructions, deceiving NTUitive into disbursing grant money for outsourced work that was instead done by Cheng's subordinate.

In 2016, when she worked as a freelance consultant for NTU, Lai got her husband, Mr Wong Chee Leong, to sign a six-month service agreement under the pretext of him being her assistant, which she knew was false.

DPP Ting sought 18 months' jail, highlighting the long period of offending perpetrated against the public purse.

Asking for at most 16 months' jail, Lai's lawyer Teo Choo Kee said that apart from the offence involving her husband, Lai did not personally benefit.

Cheng's case is still before the courts, and he faces a total of 120 charges for cheating, money laundering, and engaging in corrupt transactions.